Page 37 - Florida Sentinel 8-7-20

Local
Man Who Shot Officer, Several Others Arrested
A Tampa man is facing several charges after he shot a police officer and several oth- ers. He is facing numerous charges.
He has been identified as Antonio Cruz Ortiz. The in- vestigation is being conducted by the three agencies, Tampa Police Department, the Hills- borough County Sheriff’s Of- fice, and the Florida Highway Patrol.
According to police, several calls were received about a man shooting at others from a vehicle. The shooter was trav- eling on I-275, near West Shore Blvd., shortly before 7 p.m., Thursday.
Police received reports from the City of Tampa and Hillsborough County. The Florida Highway Patrol be- came involved in the investiga-
ANTONIO CRUZ ORTIZ
tion because the suspect was also shooting on the Interstate. Other 9-1-1 calls were re- ceived about the man shooting in the area of Reo Street and
Cypress.
Two unidentified adult vic-
tims were struck by gunfire and suffered from non-life threatening injuries. They
were on Westshore Blvd., at I- 275 (under the overpass) when hit by gunfire.
Later that evening, an unidentified 24-year-old Tampa Police officer observed the vehicle and attempted to make a traffic stop near the in- tersection of E. Hillsborough Avenue and N. 43rd Street.
As the officer attempted to make the traffic stop, Ortiz is alleged to have exited the vehi- cle and opened fire on the po- lice officer’s vehicle. Several rounds penetrated the front windshield, shattering the back windshield.
After the encounter with the officer, Ortiz then ran into the Park Terrace Apartment Complex, where officers tracked him to a third floor landing and took him into cus- tody.
Virus Numbers Concern Members Of EPG
The Hillsborough County Board Of County Commission was expected to vote on Wednesday, August 5th, to take charge of COVID-19 updates.
When the Emergency Policy Group met last Thursday (July 30th), Dr. Daniel Holt of the Hillsborough County Florida Dept. of Health told the group that (as of last week) the county is averaging 450-500 positive tests per day.
Initially, the group had con- sidered closing testing sites be- cause of the approaching storm, Isaias. However, that idea was scratched, after it was deter- mined that the west coast of Florida would not be affected by strong winds and heavy rains.
When the group met on Monday, August 3rd, numbers were also a part of the discus-
sion. However, this time the group learned that the numbers were decreasing. As of Monday, August 3rd, there were 373 pos- itive cases.
EPG Chairman Les Miller said he informed the group not to get so happy about the slight decrease, because “the way people are getting out and about – no masks, no dis- tancing – there will probably be another wave of increases,” he said.
The group also extended mask wearing another week.
After this week, Hillsbor- ough County Commission will make that decision, since that board is expected to take over the duties and updates regard- ing COVID-19.
The EPG will still be in charge of other emergerncies, such as hurricanes.
(By Gwen Hayes, Editor)
FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2020 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY PAGE 13-A